July 1st, 1863: Day 1

July 1st

On the morning of July 1st, General Buford disbanded his division of Cavalry into three brigades: One to the north, and two to the west. General Heth's troops made their way up Chambersburg Pike towards Gettysburg, and Buford's dismounted cavalry formed ranks and began firing. At first, Heth thought it was just a few militia from the town, but as his forces were not able to break the line, he soon found out that it was dismounted cavalry. As Buford watched his troops holding the Confederate forces from the Seminary College tower, General John Reynolds and his division came into town, giving much needed support to the battered dismounted cavalry. However, as Reynolds was motivationg his men, he fell to a sharpshooter's bullet. As the day went on, the Union troops were slowly losing ground. Once the troops from the north began to retreat, the western force did the same, and for about 20 minutes, the town of Gettysburg was filled with retreating Union troops. They came to the high ground of Cemetary and Culps Hills, and set up defenses. The Confederate forces advanced, but not many engaged. This was the end of the first days battle.